Karen Bausman’s Living Wall Project Will Infuse NYC’s Meatpacking District With Greenery

New York City’s Meatpacking District, being a former industrial area, is pretty much devoid of foliage. Since the last few years have transformed the area from blocks of butchers to a chic party zone, local businesses and organizations are beefing up the greenery on the streets. Next spring, artist Karen Bausman will install a series of living walls, bringing a network of lush plant life to the cobblestones of Gansevoort Plaza.

Presented by the Arts & Institutions Committee of Community Board 2, the piece, called “The Wall Project,” will inhabit the plaza from April 2-30, 2012. The area is now used as a triangular pedestrian area, and sits in front of local hot spots Pastis, Spice Market, The Collective and The Gansevoort Hotel. The three foot walls in the installation are topped with grass, and comprised of molded turf. Twenty-four of them will weave their way in and around the 50 by 50 foot plaza.

The green walls are a short block from the city’s favorite green sapce — the fabulous High Line Park — and will act almost as an extension. The Wall Project has more in common with the High Line than just proximity. The High Line utilizes and pays tribute to pathways (and rail lines) that were once integral to Manhattan. Artist Bausman pays homage to that idea, and based the structure and positioning of the grass walls on a records from Manhattan’s Planning Commission of 1811. The project echoes the Indian footpaths and village lanes of an earlier Manhattan. This is also befitting to the neighborhood, as Greenwich Village’s roads are based on old farm trails, rather than the structured grid making up most of Manhattan.

The project is also supported by the Department of Transportation’s Urban Art program, which grants artists $5,000 for temporary public art installations. The artist originally proposed showing the wall at Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan.